Welcome

7(/~ to the new Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation !

May I first thank all those members who have been with us for up to a year now, and who may have been wondering what the new Branch was getting up to. The answer is: GETTING STARTED. Stay with us: for the best yet to be, we need you!

The nucleus ofa committee (see back page) has now been set tip, and following a few, but very successful events this year, we hope during 1994 to have a programme of activities to appeal to everyone. From butterfly picnics to mothie barbecues, and from slideshows to country fairs, the year is already shaping up well, but we need your help. If you can give talks, want to lead a field tt:ip, like running stands at shows, can raise money or manage some aspect of the Branch's administration please contact me.

This is our very first newsletter, and those ofus who are making up the current Branch committee hope that "TH£ SUFFOLK ARGUS" will become something a little more than just another piece of paper that comes through your letterbox.

To begin with, although the focus of our interest and conservation activity is our beautiful butterfly heritage, the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation is above all a wildlife conservation group. We want to celebrate not just these angelic swnmer visitors, but every thing else that they symbolise for us: beauty, freedom and the .wonder - and threatened status - of the whole of the natural world.

So we're going to be thinking too about caterpillars, and their foodplants. We're . going to discuss related issues of topical interest such as/arming.forestry and park management. Gardening will we hope become a regular topic. The world of moths, those sister lepidoptera, and their for the most part unrecognised attributes, will be a major emphasis for this new county group. We also want to feature articles on Suffolk itself, places to visit, its birds and wildflowers, and any other related subject that has a particular interest or fascination for you. If you love butterflies and Suffolk, you're already amongst the most sane human beings about, and your views matter - especially to your fellow Branch members.

So please, make this your newsletter - do write to Steve Goddard, the Editor, with your news and views, comments and articles. If you've got a bee in your bonnet, let us know what type it is, and why and how it got there and what you propose or want others if anything to do. Steve has suggested some topics on the back page - but don't feel bound by the ideas mentioned - if you feel that water quality needs aerating (if you'll pardon the pun) let us all know about it. Here's to 1994 !

Andrew Phillips